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They went over to Eloise, who eagerly showed them the baby. He slept, but he was so beautiful with his pink face and shock of dark hair.
“She’s doing well,” Paul said, and Clara listened in on Laurel’s health report too. She couldn’t imagine Scott coming out to a waiting room full of women and giving them an update on her private health matters.
“They want to keep her for another day, so we won’t go home tomorrow either. He said something about releasing Jamison before Laurel, and I nearly lost my mind.” He chuckled and looked over to Eloise.
She’d taken Lena over to the loveseat so she could hold Jamison. Clara’s heart warmed at how tender Eloise was with Lena, and she knew she’d been doing her daughter a disservice by keeping her so close.
“I can’t feed him. I can barely hold him without breaking him.”
“You’d be okay,” Alice said.
“Your mother-in-law is here,” AJ added.
“And your sister,” Jean said, and Clara hadn’t known that. She did want to be involved with these women, and she vowed she’d do better in paying attention to their messages and participating with them too.
“And all of us,” her mother said, and Clara found she wanted to be involved in that number too.
“Thank you,” Paul said. “He said they’d keep James too, thankfully. I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings.” He looked past the huddle of women in front of him, and his face brightened. “Chief.”
Clara turned to find Aaron Sherman approaching, and he seemed a bit shocked to find everyone there too. “Hey, Paul. I’m looking for my wife…” He came straight toward the group like he’d enter the fray of women easily, but they parted like the Red Sea.
“She’s over there,” Robin said, indicating Eloise on the couch.
Aaron grinned, shook Paul’s hand, and went over to Eloise.
Clara glanced over to Jean, and her sister-in-law linked her arm through hers. “Come on,” she said. “We’ll go back while Paul is out here.”
Clara nodded, and she let Jean lead her through the doors and to Laurel’s room. She sat up in bed, her face a little paler than Clara thought it should be. Concern spiked inside her, which was another indicator of how much she cared about the women here in Five Island Cove.
“Laurel,” she said, and she hurried over to the bed and hugged her. “He’s beautiful.”
Laurel simply hugged her back, no words needed.
A few days later,Clara pulled up to the lighthouse, her heartbeat once again beating, beating, beating against the back of her throat.
Usually it was because she disliked this place so much. Or she’d have to have a hard conversation with her mother about why she didn’t want to stay for long. Since Jean and Reuben had taken over the lighthouse, Clara hadn’t minded coming as much. She still saw and heard her father in every room, through every window, and lurking in every wall, but he was quieter now.
“Here’s fine,” she said, and the RideShare driver stopped. She jumped out and ran for the navy blue door just as it opened.
Jean and Reuben exited the lighthouse, and Clara’s step slowed. “Jean,” she said.
Her sister-in-law had been crying, that much was clear. She smiled anyway and said, “We’ll send so many pictures.”
“You better.” Clara stepped into both of them and hugged them, then pulled away. “Now go, before you miss your flight.”
Jean headed for their car, but Reuben stayed with Clara. “Thanks for coming,” he said. “You sure you’re okay to miss work for a few days?”
“Yes,” she said firmly. She’d warned Eloise she’d be on lighthouse duty when Jean and Reuben went to get their new daughter. “Lena’s done at two-thirty, and we’ll be fine here. We’ll make sure everything is ready for you and Heidi.” She smiled at him, then grabbed onto him again. “I love you, big brother.”
“I love you, too, Clara.”
He left, and Clara waved until their car disappeared. Alone now, she faced the lighthouse. She’d listened to her mother’s Seafaring Girls’ stories, and she knew how they viewed the lighthouse.
Safety.
Acceptance.
Love.
